FUSELAGE CRADLE FIRST
I wrote about taking delivery of my QB fuselage already, but had only set it on furniture dollies so far. This would not work going forward as I will need access to all sides of the fuselage to make any real progress. It was time to build a fuselage cradle to hold the full part. I was also fortunate to have my dad help me out again with building this cradle. He is exceptional with woodworking and made this an enjoyable process to get it all done. As far as the design, I borrowed heavily from many other builders images and depictions of their work, most notably Mark Ciaglia’s cradle. The final set of plans is available as a PDF on this site – RIGHT HERE. If these help anyone out – it was more than worth the effort to create. Enjoy.
These two images represent the end result of some good work. There was also a good bit of trial end error with placing the various parts at varying heights, but ultimately we landed on a pretty nice design. If I can find the time, I’ll put together a full write up on how it got built. For now – just enjoy. I am.
ELECTRICAL WORK AND MORE AVIONICS
The first task on the electrical side of the day was finishing up the GAP 26 connections. I used standard quick connect plugs for the power lines coming in to the pitot/AOA tube, but the signal wire was substantially smaller. I found a methodology discussed on social media using d-sub pins to connect smaller wires. This seemed like a great option so I used it and then wrapped the connection in heat shrink tubing to seal it up.
Next up was testing the ZipTip lighting system. I want to make sure that my wire harness was built correctly and that it would work as designed before I seal up my wings. I plugged the connector into the back of the light housing and then attached the other end to a ground power source for testing. Here are the results:
The landing lights popped to life immediately – it was wonderful! It was really validating to have performed this test. I also grabbed some good data from it too.
I suppose that is enough for now. I’ll be back to button up the wings soon!